Chôjin densetsu Urotsukidôji: Hôrô hen (1994) (V)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Hideki Takayama

Writer:

Toshio Maeda (comic)

Genre:

Animation | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

The Road to Hell is Paved with BLOOD

Plot:

It is the age of the Overfiend, and flesh-hungry monsters rule the Earth. Immortal half-demon Amano Jyaku travels the wasteland...

Plot Keywords:

Rape | Fellatio | Male Rear Nudity | Sick Child | Virginity

Cast

S. Watkins	...	Himi (voice)
Robert Blue	...	Ellis (voice)
Bat Mackeral	...	Ken (voice)
Michael Maizahevi	...	Buju (voice)
Greg Stuhr	...	Overfiend (Chojin) (voice)
Wendy Walker	...	Yufura (voice)
Shamen Chavez	...	Idaten (voice)
Jesse Emmett	...	Gashim (voice)
George Trahannis	...	Falis / Genocydroid D-9 (voice)
Veronica Van Eaton	...	Yumi (voice)
Mark Blackburn	...	Amano Jyaku (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Melissa Bell	...	Yoenki (voice)
John Hollywood	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Rachel Kaplan	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Rory Maxx	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Alannah Molloy	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Miri Potor	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Also Known As:

Urotsukidôji IV (USA)
Urotsukidoji IV: Inferno Road
Urotsukidoji IV: The Infernal Road (UK) (cut version)

Runtime:

135 min (3 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Chile:18 | Australia:(Banned) | UK:18 (cut) | UK:R (episode "The Secret Garden") (1996) | USA:Unrated | Spain:18

Company:

West Cape

Movie Connections:

Follows Chôjin densetsu Urotsukidôji: Mirai hen (1993) (V)

Straight Up Awful--For Completists Only!

Urotsukidoji, what happened? You used to be so cool back in the day! Ugly, perverted demons invading our world to find a human who would eventually become the biggest, most perverted demon of them all--way kewl! The first five OAVs (called Perfect Collection here in the US) were among the most imaginative, vile, grisly, sexual and breathtaking animated features I have ever seen--second only to the almighty "Akira"! I didn't even mind the fact that the episodes comprising the final two OAVs (Legend of the Demon Womb/Battle at the Shinjuku Skyskrapers) totally screwed up the continuity of the first three episodes. The animation was descent and the story, which has to do with an Nazi sorceror trying to harness the secret of the Overfiend was so delectably bizarre and undeniably weird that I had no choice but to let myself be caught up in the debauched charms of the Urotsukidoji saga. Then Urotsukidoji III: Return of the Overfiend came along and almost destroyed everything--granted I didn't mind the plethora of new demons and sub-humans that were added to the roster of the series' depraved characters. However, after the engrossing story of the first series, part III seemed forced, overblown and under-developed. The animation sucked and even though the DVD I purchased from Anime 18 has a Japanese dub it has no English subtitles. Why is this a problem? The dub is bad, really really bad (let's just say American porn stars aren't great at delivering ex positional dialogue). Still reeling from the catastrophe of Return of the Overfiend, I popped in Urotsukidoji IV: Inferno Road. This humongous waste of time and effort is probably one of the most disappointing conclusions of any series or film I have ever see ever. A couple of days before viewing this piece of trite garbage, my friend had been telling me how he hates movies that end with the main character waking up and coming to the realization that everything was just a dream. Now while it is never suggested that anything is a dream in Inferno Road, at the end of the film the main character Amano Jaku, comes to after being consumed by a powerful blast emanating from Overfiend. However, once Amano regains consciousness he realizes that he is back in 1988 Osaka on the exact same day that the whole Overfiend Saga begins. He looks to the heavens and shouts "Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!", which is exactly the same reaction I had when I realized I paid $30 for this piece of dreck.